Improvement in apparatus for reefing sails



gtuitt ,gister @tutti NATHANIEL iNGERsoLL, or SALEM, vMASSA,cniusETTs'Letters Patent No. 86,984, dated Februa/ry 16,1869. I

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NATHANIEL INGERscLL, ofSalem, in the county of Essex, and 'State of Massachusetts, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in lteciing the Courses or LowerSails. of Square-Rigged Vessels; and Ido hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will .Y

enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying' drawings, forming part of thisspecilication, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of a course providedwith my improved means for reeiing it.

Figure 2 is a detail cross-section through the yard and one of therolling-spars.

Figure 3 is a detail plan view, showing the means for operatingthcrolling-spara Figure 4 is a detail view of one of the ratchet-wheelsand its pawl, employed on the ends ofthe rolling-spars, to prevent thesail from unrolling therefrom when set.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. A

The object of this invention is to provide a simple and practicablemeans for reducing or reefing the courses, so called, or lower sails ofa square-rigged vessel.

My invention consists in the employment of two rolling-spars, to whichthe head of the sail is attached, the said spars being arranged underthe yard, and a little forward ofthe same, and connectedtherewith byjournal-plates, which afford bearings for. the gudgeons of the saidrolling-spars.

The spars are actuated, to wind up the sail thereon, by means of adevice known to mariners as a parbuckle-purchase, which is a means ofproducing `rotation in a cylindrical body, by the unwinding of a rope orchain, previously wound thereon. f

The rolling-spare are provided with ratchet-wheels and pawls, to perfecttheir operation, which, with other devices, forming part of theinvention, and conducing to the operation of the saine, render it fullyeffective, as is hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the drawings, a single course, as a ships mainsail, is represented,to illustrate the principle and operation of the invention.

a c are the rolling-spars, to which the tached.

l) l) are ropes or chains, attached to the inner ends of the said spars,and moved around the same a suliicient number of turns to roll up thesail on the said spa-rs to the desired extent.

These ropes or chains l) l) lead through blocks attached to thcunderside of the top, B, preferably to the rim of the saine, and thence tothe deck, where they niaybe connected with any tackle, purchase, orpower, deemed most desirable, forming a parbucklepurchasc on the spars aa, as before mentioned.

d d l are the journal-plates, affixed to the yardC,

sail is atat the ends and slings of the same, to afford bearings for diegudgeons'of the rolling-spare.

c e e e are ratchet-wheels at the ends of the rollingspars, and which,in connection with their. respective pawls h, hold the spars fromunwinding the `sail previously wound thereon.

The middle cloth of the sail is split down to the point to which thesail is to be rolled up on the spars, in order to permit the operationof winding the sail on two separate spars, which would otherwise beimpossible, as will be obvious.

This loose cloth is provided with astretchen'a short wooden rod, whichis attached to the head thereof, and provided with any suitable lineleading to the deck, to haul it up in place, to form a whole sail whenthe same is not reefed. p

The edges of the saidv loose cloth may be provided with rings, ifdesired, which run on short stays, ff, attached to the spars a a, and tothe sail, as shown, to perfect the operation of the said loose cloth `insettling away, as the sail is rolled on the spars, or being againhoisted in place, as aforesaid. y

In order to stiifen the rollin g-spars in heavy weather, andpreventtheir sagging or springing on such occasions, from the unusual strain onthem, I employ cur-ved horns or cleats, y g, one or morcfor eachyard-arm, which are affixed to the yard-arms about at the middle pointsof the spars da, andare curved, so as to lreach around nndcr'the saidspars, and sustain them when slightly sprung downward, as aforesaid.

spars were liable to sag ofi' to the leeward, as the sail was rolled up,particularly when the yard was braced up sharp, whereby the even rollingof the sail on the spar or yard was prevented.

This defect I remedy by means of a system of short guy-lines, 'it i,connecting the leaches of the sail with thc rolling-spars, and windingon the latter with the sail,

This i simple device has been rfound to obviate the difficultycompletely, and is applicable to all square sails generally, when rolledup on spars, in the manner set forth.

I am aware that sails of vessels have been rolled up 'in a mannergenerally similar to that herein set forth, but in such cases a singlerolling-spar was employed, which has been found objectionable, from itscxtreme length, whereby the sails,- like the lower sails of squarerigged vessels, which sails have more spread than hoist, are unevenlywound, and become wrinkled and distorted, or foul, as it is called, inthe operation of rolling them up.

has heretofore been accompanied by the lowering of the yard to which"the rolling-spare were attached, as in topsails, and the like, but inno case heretofore have rolling-spars been combined with fixed yards, or'yards Ithas been found, in practice, that sails rolled upon` I willfurther note that the rolling up of square sails working on a fixedtruss, and which is one distinguishing feature of my invention.

It Will be observed that the loose -eloth before mentioned may beweighted vby a heavy stretcher, or by other means, to insure itssettling away as the sail is rolled up.

Finally, to insure the better operation of the guylines'f i t', theouter ends of the rolling-spars may be formed with helical shoulders orthreads, which being followed (as the spars are rolled) by theguy-lines, the latter are thus more securely made to hold the ascendingleaehes properly drawn outward.

I claim as new, and desire to secure Patent- 1. The method ofreefing thecourses, or lower sails of squareri gged vessels, by means of two rollingspars. a a, arranged under each yard-arm of tbe yard C, and working inbearings afforded by journal-plates e, ailixed by Letters to the saidyard C, and operated by two parbucklepurchases, b b, and provided withratchet-wheels e and pawls 7L, all substantially as shown and described,and for the purpose set forth.

2. The method 0f steadying the leaches of rolling sails, by means ofVguy-lines i t' i, substantially as described.

. V3. The method of sustainingr the rolling-spars a a,

